Chapter 792: The True and the False
Translator: EndlessFantasy Translation Editor: EndlessFantasy Translation
He realized that his surroundings turned completely dark.
The daylight turned into darkness, and the dense forest around him became a bare rocky ground. It was dead silent, and not a single trace of humans could be found. The two siblings that were following Benjamin had also completely disappeared, and only a reddish full moon was left on the sky.
Despite being mentally prepared, Benjamin was still shaken at that moment.
It was really an illusion...
In just a matter of a few seconds, he did not even have the time to figure out what was going on, let alone think of a solution. However, the System suddenly opened his mouth and shouted in his heart: "Quick! Create another sound-proof ice hockey ball!"
Benjamin heard it, suddenly thought of something, and he had a cold look on his face. Without hesitation, he immediately casted a huge sound-proof ice hockey ball during the short moment when he was out of the intangible state and wrapped himself in it.
Subsequently, the intangible state ended completely.
"... Was it a success?"
While standing inside the ice hockey ball, Benjamin looked at the dark night outside and asked hesitantly in his heart.
"Well, that’s scary, even I did not realize when you entered the intangible state." The System said slowly, "But... this is different from the usual magic, the strange sound waves outside are very similar to howling of the ghosts under the abyss."
Benjamin nodded and had a dignified look.
Ghosts…...
Previously, the two siblings had mentioned to him that when some elders from the overseas Church passed away, they will become "Ancestral Spirits", and protect the island. Could it be that the people from the island have mastered the ability to freely control the spirits?
If that was true, both the Church and Benjamin have underestimated the power of the overseas Church.
Benjamin looked around and tried his best to identify his surroundings. The only thing that made him feel fortunate was that no one took advantage and attacked him while he was in the illusion, but otherwise... he could not even identify where he was.
Where was the altar? The people from the Church? What about the two siblings?
He was lost in the illusion for so long, but he was not in danger?
A strange silence was shrouding this place, and Benjamin was a little worried.
But soon, he started moving. The sound-proof ice hockey ball isolated all the illusion making sound waves, at the very least, he was safe for now. Therefore, Benjamin quickly identified the terrain, and flew towards the direction of the salty sea breeze.
——He need to find out where exactly was he.
After flying back and forth multiple times, a familiar image finally formed in Benjamin’s mind.
After he left that piece of strange rock land, he once again entered a piece of somewhat familiar jungle. He did not plan to stop, however, he did not find any clues on the road, so he finally stopped at the boarder of the island, which was the starting point.
"The coast... and the corpses of the Paladins. The memory of us setting the entire ship free and sending them off the island should be real."
After landing on the shore, Benjamin muttered to himself while he observed the situation.
He was trying to find out when he was caught in the illusion.
Perhaps, something more important was happening, if he could not differentiate between reality and illusion, he would probably not know what was going on and he dared not to act rashly.
"I've detected the range of the sound range." The System said, "In my opinion, thirty minutes after you entered the jungle, you might have been caught in the illusion unconsciously."
"Half an hour? I'll go and have a look again."
Benjamin turned around and looked toward the interior of the island, it was still a dense forest. But on the way here, he went from a forest into a rock land, and the transition was very abrupt. Benjamin was confused with how he got into the rock land and how did the day turn into the night suddenly.
Clearly, when he first entered the jungle, he somehow took a few turns and finally walked into a direction that was completely out of his plan.
Did the illusion deceive their sense of time and direction?
However, when he was caught in the illusion, why did the people from the overseas Church not make a move on him?
Anyhow, he returned to reality as soon as possible, and flew towards the direction of the altar. The disappearance of two siblings gave him a bad feeling, he did not know exactly how long was he trapped in the illusion, but he felt like... something might go wrong there.
And this time, because he isolated all sounds, the whole process seemed to finally get a little smoother.
Ten minutes later, he saw a vague figure of the altar. There was no grand fight between the Church and the flamens, or the holy light cannons and magic beasts, it should be all just an illusion.
Benjamin could not help but to activate one second of the intangible state, just to make sure that he was not in an illusion. He had no choice, he was confused between what was true or fake.
However... what about the people from the Church? He did not find any bodies nearby or any traces of a fight, could it be that they were lost in an illusion just like Benjamin, and they did not know where they went?
After hesitating for a while, Benjamin leaned carefully towards the altar.
"Can you scan the inside of the Altar?" He asked in his heart. "Under such an environment, the water element sensing technique seems to be restricted, and I could not scan anything over ten meters."
"Hm... please wait."
After saying that, the System went quiet, it seemed like he was still trying to scan the area. But at that moment, Benjamin suddenly saw a few figures walking out from the side door at the corner of the altar.
He hurriedly hid behind a bush, adjusted the shape of the ice hockey ball, hoping that the sound-proof ice hockey ball will not stand out under the dark night.
Fortunately, because the distance was quite far, they did not seem to notice him.
Benjamin carefully look towards the direction of the figures.
The few of them looked like guards and it looked as though they were strange escorts that were wearing rain coats, just after they exited from the side door, they walked towards the direction of the settlement. There were no flamens among them, however, after observing it carefully, Benjamin found that the guards escorting two familiar figures.
"That... could it be the two siblings?"
Because their appearance could be easily identified, Benjamin immediately asked in his heart, and the System reaffirmed his answer.
"It's both of them."
"How could it be..."
Benjamin frowned.
He still did not know what was going on. While he was in the illusion, he might have gotten separated with the two siblings, but why were they captured by the enemies, but nothing happened to him?
The overseas Church did not think that Benjamin was a threat? Or did they not notice him at all?
It was hard for Benjamin to imagine what happened during the time that he was trapped in the illusion. However, he knew that he had to do something quickly. How will the overseas Church deal with traitors? The siblings were in a very dangerous situation.
After a moment’s hesitation, he decided to not get near to the altar first, instead, he will begin to carefully bypass the road and head to the direction of the settlement.
However, because of the sound-proof ice hockey ball, he needed to keep a very far distance from the few people, and he needed to move cautiously, to make sure that he will not be detected.
If only he had a sound-proof magic tool with him...
Benjamin could not help but feel regret. The academy produced a lot of it, but when he was leaving, he felt that he could just depend on himself, so he did not bring any with him.
Fortunately, the sound-proof ice hockey ball will not be hindering Benjamin any longer.
"Um... the sound waves that causes the illusion have disappeared, and I think you can try to deactivate the magic." After quietly passing by the altar, the System suddenly spoke, "I do not know how they made use of the abilities of the spirits, but it should just be a barrier type illusion, and it will trap anyone in it, despite it being enemy or foe. Look at those guards, they are ordinary people, but because they knew the range of the sound waves, so they did not step into it."
Benjamin slightly hesitated. But in the end, he chose to believe in the System.
The sound-proof ice hockey ball had greatly hindered his hiding ability, but at the same time, spirits’ illusions were very hard to detect, if humans were able to control it, it will indeed be overpowering.
Up until now, he can confirm that the overseas Church was not aware of his existence, perhaps they did not see him as a threat. The illusion was generated because the strange sound waves will affect everyone, as long as someone walks into it, they will all be dragged into it.
—— It was the same as the "Skyfall Mountains".
Otherwise, it was hard for Benjamin to explain why the overseas Church did not make a move on him who was trapped in the illusion.
Thus, after thinking about it cautiously, he deactivated the soundproof ice hockey ball and was re-exposed to the air. His surroundings did not change, just like what the System said, he left the range of the illusion, so he was safe for now.
"Based on my estimation, the whole illusion formed a circle that protected the island’s altar and settlement." The System said slowly, "But I still have a few seconds left in the intangible state. Therefore, if you notice anything wrong, I can verify it for you again. "
Benjamin nodded silently.
He got to say, this feeling of not being able to tell the truth and the false was giving him a headache. But in any case, the two siblings were in a dangerous situation as they were captured by the overseas Church, and he cannot turn a blind eye.
The only good news was that after Benjamin deactivated the soundproof ice hockey, his movement became much smoother. Nothing happened on the way there, and the few guards seemed to be quite confident about the illusion barrier of the island, so they did not find out about Benjamin. More importantly... all the priests and the others were gone.
—— nobody posed a real threat to Benjamin.
Therefore, about ten minutes later, the largest settlement of the island was gradually appearing before his eyes.